Portfolio

Selected Work

Energy.gov

As managing editor of Energy.gov, the U.S. Department of Energy's award-winning website, Marissa manages day-to-day content and social media flows, negotiates terms of service agreements with third-party apps, and uses analytics data to develop long-term content strategies with the digital team. She also writes about climate change and science education.

The Washington Post

Skills: Writing, Reporting, Blogging, Video Production

Marissa was a staff writer at the Washington Post for three years. She wrote numerous articles for the Style, local and national news sections — including the weekly Names and Faces column — and helped launch the Reliable Source blog. She covered White House state dinners, reality TV castings, and the first Obama inauguration, and chronicled celebrity sightings around town for the Reliable Source column.

Biking to Work in America

Marissa's master's thesis, completed as part of her master's of public policy (MPP) coursework at Georgetown University, examined the empirical relationship between federal funding for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure and bicycle commuting rates in the 50 largest U.S. cities. Marissa was recently interviewed about it on DC's Streetsblog.

Offshore Wind Power in the U.S.

Skills: Public Policy Research, Qualitative Analysis, Writing

Marissa researched and authored a chapter about offshore wind development along the Atlantic coast of the United States as part of "Regional Energy, National Solutions," a report from Center for American Progress and Center for the Next Generation about America's clean energy potential. The report, co-authored by several clean energy experts, was published in October 2012.

SmartPower

As communications director of this non-profit marketing agency, Marissa launched a blog, expanded social media, and oversaw a website redesign. She also managed several client projects, produced marketing materials, organized volunteers, and presented at national conferences about the firm's work to engage consumers around clean energy and energy efficiency.

Black & White Photography

Marissa was a photography teaching assistant for two years at American University, one of the last schools in Washington, DC, to maintain an operating darkroom. View a gallery of photos she developed and printed during that time.